Second Battle of Shanxi (Earth-5875)
The Second Battle of Shanxi, also known as the Retaking of Shanxi, was a battle between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant for the control of the Outer Colony Shanxi in the Epsilon Indi system, being the third engagement between the two forces during the First Contact War. After the loss of Shanxi to the Covenant in January 2525, Vice Admiral Preston Cole assembled a battle group to retake the planet and expel the Coenant invaders. The UNSC was able to win the battle, in pyrrhic battle that costed them most of their ships. Not long after, Admiral Cole returned to the planet once more, commanding the Third Fleet to combat the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction of the Covenant in an extended battle over control of the planet once more. Prelude Following the loss of contact with Shanxi, the CAA scout ship ''Argo'' was sent to investigate the occurrence, but never returned. The CAA then sent its Battle Group 4, led by Captain Maribeau Veredi and consisting of the ships ''Heracles'', ''Arabia'', and ''Vostok'', to investigate. arriving at the glassed ruins of Shanxi.]] Upon arriving in the Epsilon Indi system, the team discovered Shanxi has been attacked and glassed by the Covenant, as one of their ships attacked them as soon as they exited slipspace. Before their escape, however, the Heracles received a Covenant transmission in English, where their Hierarchs stated: "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument." Veredi and his vessel became the only survivors as soon as they returned to Reach. The UNSC High Command soon placed full alert over the threat, assembling forty ships to retake the planet. They chose then-retired Vice Admiral Preston Cole to lead the assault: according them he was a "fallen hero" whose "scandalous retirement" would serve as an easy scapegoat for the UNSC's attack in the possibility of it failing. Not only that, but Cole's brilliance was well known through the Secession, specially Operation TREBUCHET. He was visited by two UNSC commanders at this apartment in Amaterasu, convincing him to lead Battle Group X-Ray against the alien invaders. By November 12th, 2525, Cole prepared himself for the battle, reviewing data from the previous encounters at the First Battle of Shanxi and the Battle of Chi Ceti IV, where he studied the enemy's energy shielding and determined it would be hard to take down during battle. Prior to the battle, Cole was given control of the ''Valiant''-class super-heavy cruiser [[UNSC Everest (Earth-5875)|UNSC Everest]]. The Auton synthetic Sekmet was chosen as Cole's executive officer aboard the Everest. Battle .]]On March 1st, 2526, Battle Group X-Ray arrived at Harvest and moved towards the planet. Upon descending into the planetary plane, the battle group discovered a massive Covenant ship nearby the planet. Preston Cole increased the velocity of his ships, planning a parabolic course that would allow the battle group to fight against the super-destroyer via slingshot maneuvers around the planet. Accelerating towards the ship, the Vice Admiral ordered his ships to fire at will upon the warship. When the ships fired their MAC guns and Archer missiles at the alien ship, the energy shielding of the super-destroyer stopped the weapons from damaging its nanolaminate hull. As Cole started to understand the formidably energy shielding and the extraterrestrial plating, the Vice Admiral supposed an overwhelming attack would be needed in order to suppress the shielding and take down the ship. The super-destroyer soon responded to the human attack, firing countless of pulse laser turrets and plasma torpedoes upon Battle Group X-Ray, destroying four of its seven destroyers. The battle group then attempted to pierce the ship with multiple nuclear weapons, leading to the super-destroyer's destruction of three more ships. Seeing their loss, an officer attempted to have the group retreat, but Cole belayed his order, and the battle group continued its slingshot course through Shanxi. Cole then had the battle group perform a new trajectory towards the super-destroyer, ordering the remaining ships of the battle group to fire their weapons against the ship. The UNSC ships then approached the Covenant vessel, leading to it firing upon them, destroying seven of its nine frigates. The remaining ships were able to fire their MAC guns against the super-destroyer, alongside their entire complement of Archer missiles and Shiva-class nuclear missiles. This attack led to the destruction of two of the battle group's ''Halcyon''-class light cruisers, the weapons impacted against the Covenant ship, deactivating its shields, and leading to the UNSC Everest and the remaining three ''Marathon''-class heavy cruisers to fire their remaining missiles against the ship's unprotected hull and destroy it. Aftermath forces on Shanxi following a victorious battle during the Shanxi Campaign, a bloody five-year long conflict that claimed millions of lives from each side.]] Immediately after the super-destroyer's destruction, Cole had the remaining of his battle group steer from the remnants of the ship in order to investigate for possible survivors of his lost ships, although he was unable to find anyone who did. With the loss of 97% of his group compared to a single one from the Covenant, Cole realized the difference between the strength and capabilities of both the UNSC and the Covenant. The Office of Naval Intelligence used of this victory to greatly exaggerate the events in order to encourage enlist in the UNSC Armed Forces. It was initially covered up as an Insurrectionist incursion, but the existence of the Covenant was eventually released to the public. Upon his return to Earth, Cole was promoted to admiral. The Covenant were less than impressed with their defeat, and yet the Prophet of Regret ordered that the "Victory of the human system" to be celebrated through Covenant space. The food rations of its member species were taken down for the next three weeks, as they were ordered to publicly pray. The commanders that failed into destroying every last human ship were publicly executed. When Cole proved to be the UNSC's greatest military asset, he was given command of most vessels and fleets of the UNSC Navy, as UNSC High Command desired to use him as a scapegoat if the Covenant proved unstoppable. Hailed the "Hero of Shanxi", Cole took command of the Third Fleet, launching a series of attacks and counter-attacks against the Covenant from 2526 to 2532. While the Covenant war machine marched towards the Outer Colonies and UEG space, the ''Rapid Conversion'', now led by Tartarus, had finally returned to ''High Charity'', whereupon he warned of the human threat. In response, the Hierarchs organized the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction under the command of Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee and Chieftain Thrallslayer to return to Shanxi and take control of the planet, resulting in the five-year long Shanxi Campaign between the newly assembled fleet and Cole's Third Fleet. Despite their fighting, the UNSC gave up on Shanxi once the planet had been completely inset from life. Category:Earth-5875 Category:Battles of the First Contact War (Earth-5875) Category:Battles of Earth-5875 Category:Created by Draft227 Category:Events of Earth-5875